Transparent covered tray



T. AVERY A ril 11, 1933.

We TRANSPARENT COVERED TRAY Filed March 18 1931 Patented Apr. 11, 1933TRUE M. AVERY, OF GLENS FALLS, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO UNION BAG & PAPERCOR- PORATION, OF HUDSON FALLS, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEYTRANSPARENT COVERED TRAY Application filed March 18, 1931.

The present invention relates to improvements in receptacles of theclass suitable for the packaging and display of articles of differentkinds, and more especially confections such as cakes and the like, andthe primary object is to provide a transparent covered tray to containsuch articles, the tray having sufiicient strength or stiffness tomaintain its proper form and to support its contents, and having atransparent coverwhich encloses the contents and renders the sameclearly visible for display purposes, the construction of the tray beingsuch that it may be easily and quickly filled and closed.

In the accompanying drawing:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a transparent covered tray embodying thepresent invention, the same being shown in filled condition;

Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal section through the tray in itsexpanded form, before filling and closing thereof;

Fig. 3 is a bottom plan view, partly broken away, of the tray beforefilling and closing;

Fig. 4 is a top plan view, partly broken away, of the tray beforefilling and closing;

Fig. 5 represents a transverse section through the tray in its expandedform;

Fig. 6 is an end view of the tray, showing one of the end folds forclosing it;

Fig. 7 is an end view of the tray showing further folds for closing it;

Fig. 8 is a section taken on the line 88 of Fig. 7; and

Fig. 9 is a view of an end of the tray showing the same fully folded andclosed.

The receptacle or tray provided by the present invention comprises abottom 1 and a cover 2. The bottom 1 is composed of a strip ofcardboard, fibre board or other relatively still but flexible orfoldable material which is preferably of elongated form as shown, andthe cover 2 is composed of thin flexible or foldable transparent sheetma-' terial of any suitable kind, such for example as transparent paperor ordinary fibre paper treated in any suitable or well known manner torender it transparent, or Cellophane or any of the other well known thintransparent flexible sheet cellulose products ob- Serial No. 523,615.

tained from viscose. The strip of material from which the cover 2 ismade is wider than the bottom 1, and the longitudinal edges 3 of thecover 2 are extended beneath the longitudinal margin of the bottom 1 andare united thereto, as by longitudinal rows of paste 4. The cover part 2is folded along the longitudinal lines 5 so that the top of this coveris preferably of the same length and width as the bottom 1, and thesides 6 of the cover part are formed with longitudinally extendingplaits 7 so that, before filling, the top of the cover portion may becollapsed fiatwise against the upper side of the bottom 1 and during orbefore filling, the top of the cover portion may be raised, as will bepermitted by the unfolding of the plaits, thereby expanding the spacebetween the bottom 1 and the top of the cover to provide a chamber toreceive the contents. The bottom 1 and cover 2 are preferably made ofthe same length, thus enabling the trays to be manufactured on ordinarybag making machines.

The tray may be filled with cakes or other confections or similararticles by lifting the top of the cover, which is permitted by theunfolding of the plaits, the ends of'the tray being then open for thereception of the contents. After the tray has been filled, it is closedat its ends by bending the ends of the relatively stiff bottom 1upwardly along the transverse lines 8 to form the upturned relativelystifl' folds 9, one at each end of the tray, after which the sides ofthe cover 2 at each end thereof are turned inwardly to form folds 10which are pasted against the respective upturned fold 9 of the bottom,and finally, the extremity 11 of the top of the cover is folded andpasted against the previously made folds 9 and 10, the respective end ofthe tray being then effectually closed and sealed.

By forming the tray of a relatively stiif bottom and a flexibletransparent cover connected to the bottom by longitudinal plaits, thetop of the cover may be collapsed flatwise against the bottom beforefilling, thus econ omizing space in storing and shipping the trays, andthe expansion of the tray, made possible by the plaits, opens both endsthereof so that the contents may be readily introduced endwise into thetray. The folding and closing of the ends of the tray may beaccomplished with facility, since the turning up of the ends of therelatively stifi bottom provides relatively stiff backings against whichthe folds of the sides and top of the cover may be made and pasted.

The transparent covered tray, when filled, possesses many advantagesover display packages or receptacles as heretofore used, the relativelystiff bottom maintaining the tray in its proper form although the traymay be of considerable length, and the transparent sides and top of thecover expose the contents of the tray substantially completely.

I claim as my invention:

1. A display tray comprising a bottom composed of a strip of relativelystifi material having its ends bent upwardly, and a cover composed of astrip of transparent material of the same length as said strip of stifimaterial and having its longitudinal edges secured to the longitudinaledges of the bottom and forming an interior chamber between it and saidbottom, and having ends folded against the outer sides of the upward- 1ybent ends of the bottom.

2. A tray to receive and display articles comprising a flat elongatedstrip of relatively stifl' material forming a bottom, and a covercompound of flexible transparent material of the same length as saidstrip of stiff material and having its longitudinal edges secured to thelongitudinal edges of said bottom strip, said cover having plaits in itssides to provide an expansible space between the cover and the bottomstrip and to permit opening of the ends of the cover to admit articlesto said space, and the ends of the bottom strip being bendable upwardlyinto the expanded space between the bottom strip and the cover.

3. A tray to receive and display articles comprising an elongatedrelatively stifi bottomstrip, and a cover composed of flexibletransparent material of the same length as said bottom strip and securedalong its longitudinal edges to the longitudinal edges of the bottomstrip and having longitudinal plaits in its sides for the expansion ofthe space between the cover and bottom strip and the opening of the endsof the cover for the reception of the articles, the ends of the bottomstrip being bendable upwardly into the space between the cover and thebottom strip and the ends of the cover being foldable against theupwardly bent ends of the bottom strip to close the ends of the tray.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

TRUE M. AVERY.

